Deng, Noah savor All-Star status

The good vibes flowed following Friday's morning shootaround as Luol Deng and Joakim Noah savored their All-Star status.

Coaches voted Deng to his second straight All-Star reserve selection, while Noah will make his first at the Feb. 17 game in Houston.

"People were coming up to me and saying I had a shot to make it, so it was pretty nerve-wracking," Noah said. "It’s just an unbelievable honor. I found out (Thursday) night and still can’t believe it."

The selection prompted a string of eloquent and emotional comments from Noah on his Twitter timeline.

"A lot of people helped me along the way, so there’s definitely a lot of people to thank," Noah said. "Not only does it make me happy, but it makes a lot of people that were with me happy. A lot of people had to make sacrifices in order to get me where I’m at today, so I just wanted to thank them.

"No question I wouldn’t be here without my teammates, without my coaches and this organization. They believed in me. I came in as a young, loud [rookie], probably a little immature and just with a big mouth, and they always believed in me through it all, through the good times and the hard times, and I just want to say I appreciate them."

Deng agreed that making a second straight All-Star game is special.

"Consistency is a big part of what I want to be and what I do," he said. "I’m just glad I’ve had the chance to do it again. The way we’ve been playing and the coaching staff we’ve had the last three years, the teammates, it says a lot. I don’t think I would get it if we don’t have the record we have. It says a lot about our team.

"I didn’t get it the first year with Coach (Tom Thibodeau) but I felt I had a great year that year. The system is perfect. It allows me to show a lot more than scoring. I can show a lot of people what I can do. To do it again shows you’re consistent."

Both players and Thibodeau said Carlos Boozer was deserving as well.

"I wouldn’t be in this position right now if it wasn’t for Carlos," Noah said. "He’s somebody who demands so much attention because of how good he is offensively and I’m able to get a lot of easy baskets because of Carlos, his passing ability. I feel like he’s somebody who’s very well-deserving and I feel like we’ve been through a lot in almost three years now together, and I feel like we’re playing our best basketball together right now, so I appreciate playing with him and I feel like he’s somebody who’s working really, really hard.

"We know at the end of the day that our goal is not to make All-Star Games. Our goal is bigger than that, but I just want to say that I appreciate him because he’s just as deserving as anybody."